Yad Vashem
When looking through our itinerary for the trip, my eyes went straight to the line that read: visit Yad Vashem. It was a part of the trip that I had heard of but had not necessarily gotten in the head space to address with myself. The last time that I visited a holocaust memorial it was the museum in DC, where I had left emotionally drained, angry, and in a bit of denial - the last thing I was hoping to feel on birthright. This being said, I knew it was a part of the journey so when our group leaders held a group discussion to prepare I was ready. They passed out a sheet with feelings to choose from and we were asked to pick two that would best describe how we felt about the holocaust. Wow, TWO? As if boiling down my feelings to two words wasn't hard enough, some words on the sheet were emotions that I had never associated with one of the biggest tragedies on human history. Pride, hope, belief. How could people feel these things? Yet, as what has seemed to be a trend here on birthright, I was surprised to find that these were completely acceptable feelings. As I listened to my group members discuss the pride that they felt to be Jews when we survived one of the hardest moments in human existence or the hope they felt as they believed the world could learn from this tragedy I realized that the next day would be more than just anger and sadness. It could also be a safe place for memories, for lessons, and the new sense of pride I feel for being a Jew.
Now that the tour is over, I can truly see why these more uplifting words make sense. The museum is a beautiful testament to the courage and honor that the victims and survivors of the Holocaust felt when facing atrocities. They saw the worst in human beings and some of them came out on the other side. The Israelis that we've been privileged enough to be with in this trip shared how in Israel the Holocaust is more than a tragedy - it's a rebirth. Israel and the Jewish nation wouldn't be here without it and it's made us stronger. As we all took a moment to mourn the loss of some many lives, we also looked forward to a world where this tragedy isn't a shadow on being s Jew - it's simply a part of our shared background.
